Japan ready to offer flu drug for Ebola treatment

Japan said Monday it is ready to provide a Japanese-developed anti-influenza drug as potential treatment to fight the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that Japan can offer the anti-influenza tablet favipiravir, developed by a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings Corp., any time at the request of the World Health Organization. Suga said Japan is watching for WHO's decision on further details over the use of untested drugs. In case of an emergency, Japan may respond to individual requests even before further any decision by the WHO, he said. The WHO said earlier this month that it is ethical to use untested drugs on Ebola patients given the magnitude of the outbreak. The drug, developed by a Fujifilm subsidiary Toyama Chemical Co. to treat novel and re-emerging influenza viruses, was approved by the Japanese health ministry in March. Fujifilm is in talks with the US Food and Drug Administration on clinical testing of the drug in treating Ebola, company spokesman Takao Aoki said, according to AFP.